Paris-Nice losing prestige?

[VeloGirl]

My guess is Chava does get some secs tacked on, but not enough to knock him off the podium. He will be fined money for the bottle within 25k, but not any time.

Good ride my Chava all week - great to see! Colom rode fantastic as well!
Frankie showing his form is coming along nicely!

Overall, a great 2009 Paris-Nice!

Now for Tirreno!!! Should be some nice shake-ups after this TT!!

 

[VeloGirl]

Cyclingnews has Contador winning today's stage???

Something we don't know?

 

[Merckx]

Weird, probably just a typo.

 

[VeloGirl]

Merckx - you wathing Tirreno-Adriatico?

Klodi's time is safe for now...

 

[VeloGirl]

Congrats L.L

Photo Credit: France Agence France Press

 

[Merckx]

Yea was watching the end of the TT. Good work by Kloden, will be interesting to see what happens in tomorrows stage. Grats to LL for his overall, It would have been nice to see Alberto take the stage. I don't like Colom too much for some reason, haha.

 

[Jamsque]

Sanchez rode a great race and thoroughly deserves the win.

 

[VeloGirl]

I am a Colom fan - great rider! Much to see from him now and in the future! He is a fighter and will get the chance to lead on his new team!! Good for Colom.

 

[Bluebeard]

Delighted for LLS, deserved his win, especially after his ride yesterday and the day before. Also delighted to see Chavanel on the podium and in green. I think a fair few had written him off after Contador's big Wednesday attack and he stayed the course in spite of the mountains.

I have some sympathy for Contador - once more he was left out to dry by his team. I fear he is being slowly strangled there. That said, you cannot blame a DS or a team rival for him bonking, I just dread seeing that used against him later in the season.

 

[Angliru]

The Montagne de Lure is 6,6% average, to the part they rode it (look at letour.fr). And that's not steep. It's a climb pro's do on the big gear.
I'm 100% sure LL Sanchez will never become a podium contender in grand tours. Two weeks ago, he seriously came up short in the hardest stage of the Tour de Haut-Var, finishing on...exactly, a steep climb (10%). Losing to the likes of Voeckler and Moncoutie.
Just check the facts and do the math.

...and where were these very same Frenchmen on the P-N's queen stage? It's my understanding that Sanchez's early season focus is P-N not Haut-Var.
Moncoutie is no slouch on the climbs especially now that he's recovered from his injuries from the past 2 seasons.

Sanchez is a work in progress. I see him maturing into a grand tour contender.
Saying that he'll win the Tour eventually is hard to say but I do see that he is slowly developing into a force to be reckoned with. Years past he wouldn't have been within 5 minutes of someone like Contador on a summit finish and now he's stepped up his climbing such that provided he can maintain this level over the course of 3 weeks, I can see him making the top 5 or podium some day. He's seems mature and tactically savy beyond his years.

 

[53x11 in DC]

Chavanel should be set back 30s and fined a couple of 1000 euros for hanging behind the car. His directeur sportif basically drove him all the way back to the back of the chasing peloton in the descent after his chain came off... We'll probably won't hear anything about this incident anymore, we're in France after all.

Setting aside his nationality, that was a huge breach of the rules (sorry Velo Girl). I remember George Hincapie getting relegated for a lesser offense in the States years ago.

If I were Frankie Schleck, I'd be upset.

In any case, wow, what a race. Hope this brought some prestige back.

 

[*G*K*S*]

...and where were these very same Frenchmen on the P-N's queen stage? It's my understanding that Sanchez's early season focus is P-N not Haut-Var.
Moncoutie is no slouch on the climbs especially now that he's recovered from his injuries from the past 2 seasons.

Sanchez is a work in progress. I see him maturing into a grand tour contender.
Saying that he'll win the Tour eventually is hard to say but I do see that he is slowly developing into a force to be reckoned with. Years past he wouldn't have been within 5 minutes of someone like Contador on a summit finish and now he's stepped up his climbing such that provided he can maintain this level over the course of 3 weeks, I can see him making the top 5 or podium some day. He's seems mature and tactically savy beyond his years.

I gotta agree with you here. He's still young and has had a career similar to Indurain's up to this point, who also won P-N at age 25.

It'll be interesting to see how he handles the climbs at the Dauphine Libere this year.